AL’s 70th founding anniversary Saturday

Sun Online Desk
22nd June, 2018 08:39:04

Ruling Awami League is set to celebrate its 70th founding anniversary tomorrow with the inauguration of its new central office on Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital.

AL president and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the 10-storey party’s new central office on the occasion of the founding anniversary of the party.

The building of the new office having modern facilities is designed with party’s election symbol ‘boat’ and immortal slogan ‘Joy Bangla, Joy Bangabandhu’.

After the inauguration, all the organisational activities will be run from the new office while party’s electoral and research work will be carried out from the party president’s political office at Dhanmondi, insiders say.

The spectacular 10-storey office building will portray the glorious political history of the AL and the party’s contributions towards the nation, they say.

The new office will have conference hall, seminar room, digital library, VIP lounge, cafeteria, journalist lounge, car parking and dormitory. The entire office will be under WiFi zone.

Besides stairs, there will have two modern lifts and fire prevention system in the building.

As per the design, party president will sit on the ninth floor. Bullet-proof glass will be set up at the floor.

Party general secretary will sit on the eighth floor while presidium members, joint general secretaries, organising secretaries and central leaders will have rooms on the seventh and eighth floors.

It is learnt from party sources that general offices, digital library and media room will be set up on the fourth and fifth floors of the building.

The floors will also be allocated for office rooms of the party’s associate bodies.

There has been a sitting arrangement for 350 people on the second floor while 240 people can sit on the third floor.

Apart from these sitting arrangements, conference room and other rooms are there in these floors. The front side of the third floor will have an ‘Open Sky Terrace’.

Housing and public works minister Mosharraf Hossain will hand over the key of the building to the party president on the day, party sources said.

After the inauguration, the AL president will allocate rooms for the associate bodies and other leaders.

In 2011, Awami League Central Working Committee at a meeting took a plan for construction of the office building.

Later, the demolition work of AL central office began in July 2016 and its construction work began in September the same year.

According to party’s history, the AL started its journey on June 23, 1949 in Rose Gardens, KM Das Lane of Old Dhaka. Since its inception, its office was shifted eight times.

Since 1953, the party has been carrying out its activities from its temporary office at 9, Cancun House lane. Later in 1956, the office was shifted to 56, Simpson Road in Old Dhaka.

On January 25, 1964, then general secretary of the party Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman shifted the office at 91, Nawabpur Road. After a few days, it was again shifted near Sadhargat Rupmahal cinema hall.

At the end of 1981, Sheikh Hasina took the responsibility of the party and shifted its central office to 23 Bangabandhu Avenue.